By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
SPRINGVILLE – In Alabama, football truly is year-round for most. Both National Signing Days have passed but not everyone had signed their national letters of intent to play football at the next level and Springville Tigers’ Parker McAdams was one of those late signees. On Thursday, Parker, surrounded by family, friends, coaches and teammates, signed his letter of intent to play at the next level as a “family legacy” at Sewanee, following in the footsteps of numerous other family members who attended the University of the South, as Sewanee refers to themselves.
At Springville, McAdams played linebacker for the Tigers, beginning his football career early on, said his father, Stan McAdams, “We started him, literally, when he was four years old. A switch flipped somewhere at the end of middle school where Parker began to take control of the way he ate, the way he worked out. He did it himself with nobody telling him to. He just adopted that way of life for his body and eating the right stuff and it just says a lot for him.”
During his time at Springville, Parker suffered several injuries, but he persevered and overcame those injuries to be one of the Tigers’ main leaders on and off the field. “This means a lot to our school to have someone further their education and their athletic career,” said Springville Coach Jon Clements. “Personally, he’s been such a core part of our program since I’ve been here. He’s battled through injuries and stayed on the field. People don’t know everything he’s been through. He battled through some serious injuries and continued to be staple for us in the locker room. He’s what you think about when you think about consistency. You get the same guy every day. That’s what I’m most proud of him about and we are really excited to watch him play next year.”
Parker’s mother, Dawn McAdams is happy to see her son carry on that family legacy for the Tigers of Sewanee. “It means a lot. Sewanee is a very close-knit family type of school. So you get generations and generations of students there. The generations and traditions stay the same and they grow up together there. They are also deeply imbedded in the Christian faith, which is really important for us. It’s just, to us, what we had prayed for. But we had to let him make that decision. What makes us most proud of him is his work ethic. Nothing was handed to him. We didn’t get him his spot, he earned it. We’ve always made him work. If he wanted it, he had to work for it. There’s an expression, ‘expectation minus effort equals entitlement.’ We’ve always just taught him to work hard for what he wants because someone may want it more.”
Excited to get started with his new Tigers at Sewanee, Parker said, “I feel great. It’s an awesome feeling. It’s special already having a connection and having family up there. My message to the team that remains here at Springville is just work and do what you can. Even if you can’t get to D1 but college football is college football and it’s rare for high school players to get to that level. So just work hard.”